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Post by hengest on Jun 12, 2022 21:14:54 GMT -5
Now that you are fairly close, you see that the hand is somewhat pockmarked, stained at the fingertips and even past them. Looks as if something stain-y was spattered onto it many times over a long period.
Finny is standing to your left. It seems the hand cannot flex in this direction and you are out of range even if it could.
Tetyana slows down and does not get quite within the hand's range, but she gets close. You see her creeping up extremely close, crouching down, and peering at the most distant of the marks it has made on the earth.
Finny looks even more flabbergasted than he did. You hear him muttering something to himself.
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Jun 13, 2022 10:10:35 GMT -5
"Finny...:, pausing before continuing, "What do you think?"
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Post by hengest on Jun 13, 2022 10:15:28 GMT -5
Finny startles out of his reverie. "I don't know..." he says with tense displeasure. "I'm not prepared to deal with this!"
He steels himself, runs forward, pulls Tetyana back away from the immediate area of the hand, then cups his hands around his mouth and starts shouting: "Hello? HELLO? What...what do you want here?!"
The hand freezes.
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Jun 13, 2022 18:23:58 GMT -5
<thinking> I wasn't expecting that.
"Finny, it looks like you have the attention of whatever is attached to that hand.". I observe as I stroll up next to where he is standing.
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Post by hengest on Jun 13, 2022 18:54:14 GMT -5
Finny starts shouting again "Hello? This is...we are people here! What are you reaching for??" But in the middle of his utterance, the hand withdraws and vanishes from your site.
You can still see the slit in the world it came out of. It looks like your very visual field has a tear in it. Inside the tear you see an area of foggy darkness, unlike the hand and unlike your present bright surroundings.
Tetyana seems unperturbed and shows you both something. She is holding scrapes of dirt. Looking closer, you see that the dirt is trembling, transforming into what may be quartz pebbles, some of which appear faceted, and back again. As you watch, it slows down and becomes simple earth again.
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Jun 14, 2022 7:27:40 GMT -5
<thinking> What the...
"Finny...", pausing to look around for a bit, "Tetyana, was that another world? I have no ideas about this kind of stuff.".
Before either of them can answer, I ask, "Have you ever seen anything like that with the dirt?".
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Post by hengest on Jun 14, 2022 11:20:58 GMT -5
Tetyana is too busy peering into the slit, almost poking her head into it. Her hammer is raised again, but gently, almost resting on her shoulder.
Finny replies. "No...I never heard of anything like that...there are visitors...we have to watch out for them. But then what you and I saw...and now this...and no, I never saw...dirt do that before. I thought we were going to get in a fight."
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Post by hengest on Jun 14, 2022 11:32:51 GMT -5
Tetyana pokes her hammer into the slit. There is a faint but otherwise indescribable sound. Nothing happens.
Finny says, "Tetyana..."
A forefinger and thumb gripping a large bundle of parchment poke through suddenly, knocking Tetyana down
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Jun 14, 2022 17:34:22 GMT -5
"I think it wants us to take the parchment!" I exclaim suddenly before asking, "Are you okay, Tetanya?".
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Post by hengest on Jun 14, 2022 17:40:38 GMT -5
She sits up on the ground, unable to answer--obviously has had the wind knocked out of her, but otherwise seems unharmed. Her face looks sullen and fallen as she sits there, apparently experiencing discomfort. She gestures toward the hand, and Finny scrambles to pull the bundle of what looks like parchment from the thumb and forefinger. As he takes its weight, he nearly drops it -- there is a lot of it and it is heavier than it looked.
The hand withdraws.
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Jun 14, 2022 18:08:00 GMT -5
I look to Finny and then Tetyana and finally rest my gaze at the parchment.
"We should open it up to see if we can understand what it contains.", I state loud enough for both of them to hear but not directly at either one of them. The silence doesn't surprise or startle me as we stare at the parchment for a few brief moments. Finally, I ask, "What do you think?".
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Post by hengest on Jun 14, 2022 21:34:47 GMT -5
The slit is still there. Tetyana seems to be recovering quickly and is back on her feet, but still looks displeased.
Finny looks at the slit and then back to the bundle. Now that you have a moment to really look, each bit seems extremely thick. It is not a scroll or a volume but some other arrangement, tied closed by something that looks like string but to you has more the texture and thickness of rope.
He says, "I kind of wish I was still a child and didn't have to make these decisions." Tetyana waves his concerns away. He signs. "Well, I suppose we should see what we can see inside this...bundle."
It is tied around and then around again at a right angle, forming an X of the "rope." Finny begins picking awkwardly at the knot, which looks quite tight, despite the thickness of the rope-material.
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Jun 15, 2022 2:33:53 GMT -5
I approach Finny struggling with the knot and watch him for just a moment. "Would you like me to help? I could grab this other part of the knot and with both of us pulling away from each other maybe it will loosen quicker."
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Post by hengest on Jun 15, 2022 4:36:37 GMT -5
He nods. The material feels strange under your fingers, but working together you get the knot to open up.
You remove the string / rope and get a better look at the parchment. It is a long "strip" that has been folded many times in one direction so as to form a crude accordion of pages (fold little bit from end of strip, then flip that over and keep going).
You two can easily open it up now if you wish.
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Jun 15, 2022 16:47:14 GMT -5
"Let's open it up, Finny!", I exclaim as we successfully undo the knot.
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Post by hengest on Jun 15, 2022 18:08:52 GMT -5
Without real difficulty, you unfold the thing.
It unfolds into what might be a very thick wall hanging made, apparently, from the hide of a truly gigantic animal.
Much of what you thought were separate pages crushed together are simply the shocking thickness of the thing, a joint more, with much variation. It unfolds into a gigantic strip, perhaps twice as long as you are tall.
The "inside," which the two of you place face-up on the ground, has large and obvious markings, not over ever inch of its surface, but more or less evenly spaced. Much of the space, inch for inch, is unmarked, but the markings extend perhaps two-thirds of the "height" of the strip and most of its length.
Finny and Tetyana (now recovered, mostly) are staring at the thing as if it just came from another world, which maybe it did.
[How do you investigate, how much time do you want to spend on this?]
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Jun 15, 2022 19:58:26 GMT -5
<thinking> This is fascinating... I turn my gaze from Finny to Tetanya and then back to the hide letting my thoughts wander for a moment. I look up from the hide and ask, "Do either of you recognize any of these symbols?". If so, then let's discuss what the markings say or mean. Other topics that may be a part of this conversation include: Who sent that through the slit? What could be their purpose? What is on the other side of the slit?If not, then I'll ask if we need to take them back to their underground realm to attempt to find information about it. We could also discuss: Is there anybody else we should consult about this? Is there a place (like a library) that could lead us to the answers we seek?
Maybe we could take about 10 minutes having a discussion before deciding on a course of action.
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Post by hengest on Jun 15, 2022 20:02:37 GMT -5
How do you investigate physically, if at all?
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Jun 15, 2022 20:06:42 GMT -5
I'm going to look at the markings to see if they are unknown symbols or some form of letters I might recognize.
Maybe I can ascertain whether they are supposed to read from left to right or top to bottom or something else.
If it is full of symbols, then maybe it is some form of map...
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Post by hengest on Jun 15, 2022 21:02:40 GMT -5
Early in your ten minutes, walking around the thing for perspective, you realize that these are characters you know. Their specific shapes even look somehow dimly familiar.
It was hard to recognize them at first at this scale and in this context. And upside-down.
Finny and Tetyana make nothing of them.
But you can see that it is a message in a language you know.
You read:
WORLDS UNITE WHO ARE YOU THERE
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Jun 16, 2022 17:27:09 GMT -5
"I got it! I know what it says!" I exclaim and then pause before continuing, "I says worlds unite. Who are you there?". I look from Finny to Tetanya and let those words sink in for a moment before I continue. "I would guess they are looking for people that have the power to make agreements between our world - I guess YOUR world - and theirs. What do you think?".
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Post by hengest on Jun 17, 2022 17:00:53 GMT -5
"I got it! I know what it says!" I exclaim and then pause before continuing, "I says worlds unite. Who are you there?". I look from Finny to Tetanya and let those words sink in for a moment before I continue. "I would guess they are looking for people that have the power to make agreements between our world - I guess YOUR world - and theirs. What do you think?". Finny and Tetyana look at the strip at your feet, then up at you. "How do you figure that's what it 'says'?" Tetyana asks, curious and subdued. "We can't 'unite.' The whole point is to keep people from coming through and...doing what they do." Finny looks disturbed. "And what do they mean, who are we here? Who are they there?!" You can feel a kind of push, a gentle wind coming from that slit in the world.
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Jun 17, 2022 18:01:32 GMT -5
"The explanation is simple, really. I grew up a farm hand with a simple education. For years I helped on the farm and with the blacksmith shop. A Priest from our faith moved into our small town. A fire broke out in that part of the town and my Father and I were the only ones that helped him save his small cottage from burning. He asked my Father how he could repay us and the answer was to teach me some knowledge that could help me do better and improve my station in life. In my spare time I learned a bit about the faith, the clerical duties, and some of the other scripts. That is why I know what this says." I respond and shrug my shoulders as I look to Finny and Tetanya.
"Tetanya, what if there is a common enemy that endangers both of our worlds or even more?" I ask in response.
<thinking> What is that wind I feel?
I turn and look towards the slit.
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Post by hengest on Jun 17, 2022 18:33:10 GMT -5
They hear out your explanation, looking like eight-year-olds hearing a half-understood tale of long ago.
"A common enemy?" she echoes. She sits down and puts down her hammer, touching the heavy parchment.
You see nothing in the slit. Then a very large eye appears, just on the "far side," looking right at you. It blinks a couple times.
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Jun 17, 2022 18:39:26 GMT -5
"Oh look! Someone is interested in what's going on over here." I say as I point at the slit.
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Post by hengest on Jun 17, 2022 18:42:09 GMT -5
They both turn. Finny freezes where he stands, Tetyana leaps back up in a state of shocked excitement and fright, as you sense it.
The eye vanishes and the thumb and forefinger poke back through and rub against each other insistently, then part a bit.
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Jun 17, 2022 18:46:46 GMT -5
"It looks like it's trying to open up the slit with the fingers..." I mutter as I watch the fingers widen.
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Post by hengest on Jun 17, 2022 18:48:55 GMT -5
The digits keep "pinching" like that. Tetyana looks down, grabs the strip of parchment, and places the end in between the thumb and forefinger. They grip it and pull it through the slit. It vanishes in a moment.
Nothing happens.
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Jun 17, 2022 18:51:54 GMT -5
"That was unexpected!" I exclaim and then ask, "Should we have tried to write some form of response? What do you think this means?"
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Post by hengest on Jun 17, 2022 18:55:00 GMT -5
"That was unexpected!" I exclaim and then ask, "Should we have tried to write some form of response? What do you think this means?" Finny's expression is one of disbelief slowly being invaded by despair. Tetyana steps up to the slit, looks at her hammer, drops it on the ground, and awakwardly leaps through, vanishing into the murk behind the slit. Finny starts after her, then stops himself. You can hear his breath and little else.
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